Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Apart from the best surf V has encountered since moving to Paradise, Hamish is just being busy doing not much.

When I was an inmate at the Red Roof Gaol, we encountered several cyclones fit enough to make life a boarding school exciting.

3-4 March, 1983. CYCLONE ELINOR - memorable mostly because my cousin was born during it - and I was advised in sick bay, because apparently the boarding house we were living in was not rated for cyclones.

22 February, 1985. CYCLONE PIERRE - a whole lot of rain, causing our fire alarms to go off several times a night for several nights. Seeing firemen when you are in an all girls boarding school? Fantastic. Seeing firemen several times a night when you are shivering on the school oval while it was bucketing down rain? Not so fantastic.

1 February, 1986. CYCLONE WINIFRED - this one was noticeable because it decimated our ranks - many other inmates were in flooded regions when school reopened, and the ratio of misstresses to inmates being so high really sucked.

I never really had high expectations of Hamish, anyway - the only cyclones (in my lifetime) who have had the guts to come this far South and crossed the coast been very fewhave all bar one been ladies.

Cliff crossed the threshhold in February 1981 and broke a drought - but we all have to doff our hats truly to Gertie (December 1995) (not to be confused with the Gertie of April 1964 or the Gertie of February 1971, or indeed the Gertie of 1985) who was no longer a cyclone when she came over, but came in from the West and traversed the whole continent!

So Hamish - it appears you are not an Althea, an Emily, a Fran, a Dawn, a Wanda, a Zoe or a Daisy.

I find it interesting that they are cyclones in the Pacific and Hurricanes in the Atlantic, its so confusing. My daughter is in weather in the Air Force and assures me they are the same thing LOL duh Mom LOL